Protecting your business name, key phrases, symbols and products at the State level is affordable and helps prevent other entrepreneurs from monopolizing on your groundbreaking business concepts. At the Federal level, trademarking your logo will protect the image associated with the products and registering the mark and/or domain name with United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an extra layer of protection that will identify your mark as a source of the product. While Federal protection is more of an investment, the registration does not expire if all filing requirements are satisfied.

Intellectual Property theft is a growing threat, especially in areas of digital technologies, and is costing U.S. businesses billions of dollars each year. Protecting your ideas, creative expressions and preventing product infringement should be high on the small business owner’s list of priorities. Many small businesses are targeted specifically due to their inability to respond legally.

Trademarking the standard characters of your business entity is fairly simple and the return on the investment is invaluable. As a business owner, you should consider your options to protect, manage and enforce your intellectual property rights in order to get the best possible commercial results from its ownership.